1955 Chevrolet Truck - New Love

Jeff Hayes has always liked fast cars. At the age of 19, he built a Super Gas dragster out of a '48 English Austin and ended up campaigning it for four years. Soon after, Jeff bought his first vintage Corvette and was hooked instantly. To date, Jeff has owned 30 Corvettes of nearly every year and has performed no less than six ground-up restorations--including three '58s (his favorite year), a '63 split-window with factory fuel injection, and a '66 big-block coupe. For the last few years, however, Jeff had been searching for another form of hot rod to perform his magic on. After narrowing his search down to either a fat-fendered street rod or a classic truck and some searching on the Internet, Jeff netted his new project in Bakersfield, California--quite a ways away from his home in Bloomington, Indiana.

Once Jeff made the cross-country drive and was back home in Bloomington, it became evident that his new '55 Chevy big-window had a few issues. Although there was minimal rust, the truck had seen time on the dragstrip and would require many hours to twist all the metal back into shape and get all the bodylines to line up. For the next year and a half, Jeff invested all of his spare time into the truck, which, due to his past involvement with Vettes, carries a certain theme throughout.

Jeff opted to keep the frame and suspension of the truck fairly traditional, but still performed many updates to give the truck a nice ride and stance. With the help of his friend Pat Fitzgerald, the front of the frame was lopped off and replaced with a complete Monte Carlo front clip--which was fit with spindles and coils from Bell Tech. Out back, a Camaro rearend was hung from leaves, hangers, and shackles from No Limit Engineering. All four corners were treated to new larger brakes with aluminum calipers from Aero Space Engineering. Finally, Jeff picked out 17-inch Boyd Coddington Rodder wheels wrapped with Goodyear Eagle tires for the chassis to rest on.

Under the hood is where the Corvette theme begins. Inside the smoothed inner fenders and firewall rests a '98 LS1 engine with a ton of painted or polished trim--including stainless headers, a polished A/C compressor and alternator, and a polished billet serpentine system. The stock 4L60E also came along for the swap. As if the engine covers aren't reminder enough, the Corvette logo was placed prominently on the center of the firewall.

When it came to getting the cab and bed perfectly straight, Jeff enlisted the help of Jeff Nelson. The custom work was kept to a minimum. After the emblems and filler neck were shaved, the concentration was on getting the truck perfectly straight. On the back end, however, the stake pockets were filled and the bedrail ends were capped off. A roll pan was installed, and the fenders were cut for Billet Specialties taillights. When the truck was nearing perfection, it was turned over to Mike and Greg Wilson of Landmark Body and Paint who shot the mile-deep Torch Red paint. Finishing touches to the exterior include the rechromed bumper and grille with chromed mesh backing, Snake Eyes headlights, and an oak and polished stainless bed floor.

The Corvette theme was carried into the cab to add a bit of color to the clean tan upholstery job. A large flag logo takes up the majority of the roof panel, and two smaller logos were embroidered into each of the S-10 seats. The dash had a new smooth center welded in to make room for the JBL head unit and Southern Air setup. Also new to the dash is the No Limit Billet insert filled with white-faced Auto Meter gauges. A Billet Specialties banjo wheel tops one of their polished steering columns. For full sound, Jeff backed the head unit with an amp and speakers from Kenwood.

Jeff knew he had a winner before he even had paint or an interior; he test-drove the truck on a milk crate and nearly lost control when he hit the throttle. Now that the truck is complete, Jeff has traveled all around the Midwest and collected many accolades along the way, including a CLASSIC TRUCKS Top 10 at the last Goodguys Indy. We're not sure if Jeff has converted from a Vette guy for good. We'll just have to see what he turns up with next.